Tone
by Imyoshi
Summary: Jaune Arc accidentally discovered his Semblance one Saturday morning. A simple power with the ability to enhance any one Sin of any person he so chose. Not a useful power in the fight against the Grimm, but definitely a time waster.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Tone**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Getting a Semblance was like reaching into a bag of chocolates.

The flavors and choices were virtually endless.

When Jaune Arc woke up one fine Saturday morning, he didn't expect to see a floating, black box hovering at the side of his bed.

When he curiously reached for it, after making sure he was awake and not dreaming, the machine proved to be weightless. When he released it, it hovered. On it was a screen with seven dials labeled accordingly, Sloth, Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, and Wrath. They're bold whitish in color with the number zero etched on top of each dial. An antenna stuck out the machine, resembling a remote control of some sorts, except it was roughly the length of his torso and floated for all pretense and purposes.

Sitting up, the machine floated to the side, allowing Jaune run to cast his feet over his bed. It was just hovering there, menacingly!

Okay, maybe not menacingly, but he was definitely freaked out. He hadn't a clue to its origins, where this thing came from, why it had the power to float, or why he felt strangely drawn to it. It was all so confusing.

He was silently hoping someone in his team would have the answer because he was stumped. Still, confused or not, that urge to grab it was a little overpowering.

Reaching for it, instead of floating away, it hovered into Jaune's opened hand, fitting snugly between his fingers. There, like a missing piece to a puzzle, he felt whole. The dials wanted to be turned and the machine sprung to life, beeping little sounds that weren't at all annoying to listen to. When he clutched it with both hands, the antenna attached at the end sprung to life and glowed in a tone of gray.

It really was like a giant remote control.

Interested, he moved the device around, trying to figure out the life of him to its strange technical properties. His wish was granted when he pointed it to the still sleeping Nora, bringing up a sudden screen that had Nora's snoring face next to it. Next to her picture was a list of the seven words written down on the dials with a number ten scribbled on top, glowing in unknown power. They all have a bar next to them, empty it seemed, and he didn't know what he's supposed to do.

"Good morning, Fearless Leader!" Nora suddenly yelled, grinning while yawning with energy. She shot up, arms stretched over her head, eager to tackle the day and all its majestic glory. "Who's ready for pancakes?!"

Jaune just had to ask.

"Nora? Do you know what this thing is here?" He expected her to comment on it. He hoped that she would. But Nora did no such thing, yawning with vigor and a silent laugh. And right then and there he knew she couldn't see it. "Nora?"

She frowned for a quick second before turning back into her chipper self. "Know what? There's nothing there. You need to get your eyes checked, Jaune-Jaune! Now get up and stop being silly! It's a perfect day too—!" Out of instinct; he began to turn the dial, increasing the Sloth characteristic in Nora to ten. When it hit the top, the mysterious machine locked the number into place with Nora suddenly yawning like Ren. "To sleep the day away... nighty-night."

Waiting for a quick minute, thinking it all some elaborate joke, Jaune eventually panicked when Nora remained sleeping, knowing she couldn't remain quiet or still for longer than a minute unless she really was sleeping. Plus, she always drooled whenever she slept, like right now.

"Nora?" No response. "Nora? Are you really sleeping?"

Nora grumbled into her pillow, pulling the blankets close to her face. There were these sudden bags developing underneath her eyes, like if she hadn't slept in weeks.

She didn't even open her eyes to whisper-yell at Jaune. "Shush! I'm trying to sleep! Go away! Shoo! And close the curtains on your way out!"

Mouth shut, he remained in a stupor for an unknown amount of time, taking every few seconds to glare between his sleeping teammate and the black box in his hands. What was strange was her change of character. Even stranger was that she didn't seem to notice her sudden change in mood, sleeping in the morning like it was her natural thing to do.

What the hell was going on?

Of course, Ren chose this moment to walk out the bathroom, sparkly clean. He was dressed in his normal shower attire, a towel, wet hair and nothing else. Sometimes Jaune wondered if Ren was teasing Nora on purpose, and then purposely pretending to miss her not so subtle together-together hints. Would it be the Ren thing to do? Maybe? He didn't really know. But what he did know was that his urge to test out this box's power was simply too great.

The urge only grew stronger when Ren failed to notice the control in Jaune's hands, seemingly worried over Nora's near-coma state. Like him, he was expecting her already out and about.

Ren gently grabbed her shoulder, shaking her in earnest with an even softer voice. "Nora? Are you okay? You're still asleep."

She twisted out of his hold, covering her entire body in blankets. Nora even squirmed, acting childish. "Go away, Ren! Can't you tell it is nap time?"

Fingers itching with an undesirable fire, Jaune gripped his fingers over Greed, fighting an internal battle with his very own Greed.

How could he resist? Jaune just had to up Ren's Greed. For knowledge! It was nothing more than just a harmless experiment to test the powers of this strange, invisible machine, and then he'd search for answers.

Upping Ren's Greed, the dial hit ten and locked into place, displaying a cool down timer he was just now noticing that was set for twelve hours. Like a switch, Ren was suddenly grinning maliciously, acting very un-Ren like. He was cackling with his fingers pressed together, pink eyes burning with lust for money.

"Good! Good!" Ren smirked, planning deliciously, money-making things. "You stay asleep. Don't mind me. I just have some things to do." He even put more blankets over Nora. "Sleep tight."

Jaune remained frozen, watching Ren dress in record time, scheming up ideas for getting rich quick. His fellow male had this grin that was filled with nothing but Greed and a lack of content for anything else. Then, off to scam people, Ren was running toward the door to implement whatever scams he conjured up in the last two minutes.

Before Ren could run out the door, Jaune yelled out. "Hey! Have you seen Pyrrha?"

"Try the training rooms!"

 _Shut_!

Turning his head, Jaune mentally sighed when Nora began snoring. He peered down at the magical box, wondering what other features it had. So his fingers scanned the device, eventually finding a hidden panel above the seven dials. There was an inscription written within the compartment.

 _Emergency Hail Mary Button! Use in case of emergency! Retracts the enhanced or weakened Sins and returns previous hosts back to normal! Must be in the area to use!_

Stunned, Jaune coughed at the word Sin. That explained the seven dials and all, but being able to enhance or weakened a Sin sounded farfetched, but if this was his Semblance, then his hands were tied. Besides, he'd seen weirder—okay, not weirder—but strange Semblances before. He was just part of that demographic.

How nice to finally have a Semblance of his own.

Jaune just wasn't sure if it could help in the fight against the Grimm, but he did know testing his unique Semblance should be his top priority. So he left his team's room, finding it strange how the magical box followed him wherever he went. After a few minutes of walking in crowded hallways, Jaune came to a final conclusion.

Okay! So no one could see this strange box. He learned that the moment he walked into a busy hallway with everyone unaware of its presence. Secondly, only he could actually touch it. Everyone else had the nice power to simply walk through the machine, unable to see and feel the mysterious device. Thirdly, the more people around, the more tempted he got to test out his new power. And with a final nod, he knew he was right.

This just had to be his Semblance. What other explanation could the Arc come up with? Just look at poor Nora! She was sleeping away a perfectly sunny Saturday, and Jaune had no idea where Ren ran off to. No one can interact with this thing, or see for it for that matter, and he doubted any sort of real-world technology could replicate this box's power.

What a conundrum.

Reaching the training room, he walked inside to find his partner sparring with some inadequate training bots. The destruction went on for a while with her decimating each wire and sheet of steel with practical ease. She eventually noticed his presence and ran up to him, signaling the training to end with sweat dripping down her forehead, and before she can utter a single syllable, he was grabbing her by the shoulders, shaking her in his last valiant act of disbelief.

"Please tell me you can see this box?!"

Jaune didn't know why he was asking. Hell! He didn't even know why he was expecting his partner to be any different compared to everyone else who couldn't see or feel the magical box following him around. But if there was even the slightest possible chance, then he was gambling on it.

Pyrrha folded her hand. "What box? Is this some sort of prank, Jaune?"

Catching his breath, Jaune sighed internally, figuring as much. No one could see the box, only he could. Figuring he might have some fun before revealing his Semblance, especially since his partner was all about control and stuff, he paused and went along with her assumption. Just for today, he'd indulge in this power. Tomorrow he'd reveal its origins.

"Uh, yeah! Nora put me up to it. I guess I screwed it up." Jaune leaned on the box, accidentally tipping Pride on full. "But I should've known from the start, you are the best."

Her eyes glazed over. She didn't even care that her partner was somehow leaning his hand on air. All she cared about was her accomplishments. "I am the best, aren't I? I'm the best freshman in this entire school! Maybe in all of history?"

"Uh... are you okay, Pyrrha?" Jaune paused, bouncing his sight over to where his fingers brushed against the Pride dial. "Oh, never mind."

Pyrrha wasn't listening, walking off to prove herself the best. She was muttering things like challenging others to fights, upstaging others, and statues that told of her glory. Whatever fatigue she had proved to be useless in her struggle to be the best that ever was.

Watching until his partner escaped his glare, Jaune sighed with a hand wave. "Eh, she'll be fine. The timer only says twelve hours on it." His stomach _rumbled_. "I'm hungry. I wonder what's being served for breakfast today."

...

Entering the Mess Hall, Jaune hummed to himself, already ignoring the ongoing rumors of Pyrrha besting some poor team four to one. Even if this power was dangerous, he was tempted to try out the last four dials at the very least.

The Arc was only human!

Reaching out, he plucked his beverage off from his Semblance. Apparently, if there was one thing the infinity expanding universe understood, it was the importance of cupholders. His Semblance actually contained a tiny compartment that was meant for such an occupation, invisible to all, including the said drink it held, that was until Jaune reached for it.

Slurping his extra-fizzy Mountain Dawn, he turned a corner and bumped into Snow Angel, spilling a good portion of his drink onto her dress. Of course, she was livid, growing in red, wet fury. The way she had fist bunched up only added to her furious beauty. Not to mention she was sticky. Who wouldn't explode? At least he managed to save some of his soda.

She had her hands bunched up from the spill. "Look what you did! You have to watch where you're going, Jaune! You're almost as klutzy as Ruby! I hate that about her and now you're doing it?"

Jaune fought back. "Hey! It's not all my fault. I didn't see you there."

Weiss glared but said nothing, attempting to save her poor dress from staining too bad. She didn't want to walk back to her dorm room like this. Meanwhile, Jaune cautiously fingered the Envy dial, wondering if he should. He was tempted, oh was he sorely tempted. So much that he already spun the dial before thinking any more about it.

It was for training purposes and nothing more!

Weiss suddenly frowned, poking him roughly in the chest with unmatched Envy. "But you know what I hate most of all? How ridiculously tall you are! The weather must be nice up there! It's not fair!" It didn't help that he had to look down at her. "But mark my words, Arc! I will surpass you in height! Just you wait!"

Slurping more of his soda, Jaune idly wondered how Weiss was going to pull off that stunt. Lien could do so much, but making a person taller? Not so much. Then again, he'd never been filthy, stinking rich. So what he'd know? Maybe Weiss would mark her words or whatever that phrase meant. He wished her all the luck in Remnant. She was going to need it.

 _Slurp_!

Placing his drink down into the cupholder, he ventured to the breakfast line, wondering which Sin to test next? Wrath sounded interesting, but he couldn't ignore the call of Gluttony. Lust sounded like an intriguing choice, but his Arc pride kept him from considering such a dial. That only left endless hunger or untamable fury. Both sounded perfect. Both sounded bad, but fun.

Not knowing which to choose, he went to grab a plate of food, hungry for breakfast. Between the line and his meal, he had constantly toyed with the remaining three dials. Maybe he should wait until the others were back to normal? That seemed like a better plan than just winging it. Finding Pyrrha and Ren was already going to be hand full. Dealing with anymore hyped up Sinner didn't sound like a joyous way to spend a Saturday.

Thinking at the front of the line, he messed with the dials so more, aiming at no particular in the crowded. Anyone would honestly do. Anyone at all. Then his eyes caught sight of a majestic cape that was attached to a creature dubbed as The Cookie Monster of Beacon, Ruby. Ironically, she was consuming a plate of strawberries with a cartoon of milk, enjoying her midday, second-breakfast. Why she needed two, he never asked. But she was alone.

His fingers glued themselves to Gluttony, but he never turned the dial. It was one thing between the rest. Some had been accidental and a few a test, but to purposely change Ruby to a hungry-hungry hippo? Not even his temptation for the unknown overshadowed his desire to shield his friends.

A hand gripped him by the shoulder and shoved him forward. "Move it, Arc! You know I hate my waffles cold!"

Cardin's push twisted Jaune's fingers and flipped Ruby into a Gluttony monster. Suddenly, without any warning, she flipped her tray up and devoured all her food in an avalanche fill that was her mouth. She didn't even chew. Skipping that part by using the milk to soften it all up into a delectable paste. And if that didn't kill what little appetite he had left, she began using her Semblance to speed across the Mess Hall and swipe poor students out of their breakfast.

It was honestly a sight to see. Rose petals fluttered the entire Mess Hall. Amazingly, Cardin didn't appear to notice, more concerned with his warm waffles. After the shove, he sat alone and ate in what peace remained in the Mess Hall. How he missed the chaos was beyond him, but it was the only normalcy in the sea of panic and petals.

Well, he couldn't just leave him there. They're sort of friends. Maybe. Not really. Either way! He owed his formal bully for making the decision he had been too weak to make. What better form of gratitude could compete with being meal buddies.

Slapping his tray down, he hardly startled the ex-bully, sitting right across from him. "Thanks, Cardin!

Cardin frowned, wondering what he meant by that. "For what, Jauney boy?"

"For the shove?"

Cardin swallowed his food, said nothing and blinked. Without uttering a sound, he looked over his shoulder and under the table, unable to see the joke or setup he so religiously believed that Jaune had set up for him. Meanwhile, in the background, Ruby was using her arm to scoop in food from a neighboring table like a vacuum, drool very excessive for a petite girl of her stature.

When Cardin found no setup, he pointed his fork at the content leader. "You're weird, you know that, Arc?"

"Hey! I'm not the one playing with my food!"

"It's called a fort, Jaune. And if you had any class, you would understand. But you don't. So I don't know why I'm wasting my breath when I could be eating?"

Jaune laughed. Same old Cardin. Now that he wasn't bullying anyone, his crass and tough attitude made for a fun company when one looked past it. He couldn't say he was always pleasant to be around, but considering he tried to be better at not being a bully, well, Jaune would give him the benefit of the doubt. Cardin was misunderstood at his core.

Jaune Arc could relate.

Reaching for his drink, he plucked his beverage off the cupholder and spared a quick glance to the slowing Ruby. All the food was starting to pick up and she had a noticeable tummy, but she tried. Oh, Ruby tried to sprint from Point A to Point B. However, her movements were turning sluggish and she was sweating. To make matters worse, Yang found her slurping two milk cartoons at the same time, appalled by her baby sister's sudden attitude change and diet change.

"Ruby! What the heck's gotten into you?" Yang gripped her shoulders and began pulling the heavier sister. "Agh! Seriously! What's wrong? Why are you acting crazy?"

Both the males turned around to greet the sight. Jaune was memorized by the scene, trying his hardest to place his drink back onto the cupholder with his back turned. He ended up bumping the styrofoam against the Wrath dial and flipped Yang's switch.

Suddenly, she released Ruby and picked up the nearest students available and grinned with endless fury.

"I'm Yang! Let's fight!"

And there they went. Those two helpless students zoomed across the air, crashing into a pile of bodies. Yang didn't care. She began destroying tables and plates with a grin that made maniacs whimper. The worst part, she was practically untouchable. Some of the students tried to subdue her, thinking along the same lines of a problem affecting her, but she countered each move with precise precision that she lacked normally. No one could touch her. No could lay a hand on her. No one could even phase her.

She was the pinnacle of unbeatable!

Cardin huffed and twirled his fork at the Arc. "I take back what I said, Jauney Boy. You're not that weird."

After a student crashed into their table, clearly out for the count, Jaune hummed in defeat. Yeah, okay, he might've gotten carried away with learning the in's and out's of his Semblance. Maybe it was high time to locate his friends and fix them before things turned really bad.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care."

"Don't need to tell me twice."

Jaune grinned and removed himself from the table, clutching his Semblance like a lifeline. He first aimed to fix Yang, but the brawler was long gone, leaving behind a tummy-ached Ruby who was still trying to inhale a cookie from the floor. She was bloated, beyond fat, unable to move with such a full stomach. Her best weapon was her tongue.

Not wanting to be around for that disaster on a stick, Jaune walked to the very edge of the Mess Hall, practically out the doors when he flipped the Emergency Hail Mary switch on Ruby's icon. He ignored her scream of absolute terror, needing to catch up to an indestructible Yang and who knew what else.

...

Yang's path of destruction was surprisingly difficult to follow. Her Wrath was quick but subtle. Silent, yet powerful. Empowering and everlasting. Really, she had a knack for cheesing it when it mattered. Gotta give the girl props. For someone hyped on Wrath, he didn't expect to be looking under rocks to find her.

Imagine his surprise when he found Ren first, appearing to be the center of a scam ring that had to do with three shells and a single coin. A circle of students surrounded the commonly calmed man outside at Beacon's Courtyard. What made things ten-times weirder was his choice of wardrobe. The Lie still fashioned his tailcoat and white pants, but now he wore a pair of pitch-black shades with a dark-brown beret and black scarf. Where he managed to pick up any of the items, he didn't dare ask.

Somewhere, in a room rummaged for the umpteenth time, Coco Adel swore vengeance for her missing stuff.

Back to the matter at hand, it appeared Ren was swindling poor students out of their money. He basically played the simple game of spot the pebble, but for some unknown reason, no one could find the pebble underneath the turtle shells. No matter how simple the game looked. Maybe it was the speed Ren moved the shells? Could he be conjuring up some illusion when no was looking? Better yet, did the pebble magically teleport to a different shell?

Didn't matter.

He was loaded with cash in his pockets. Some people won big, but the vast majority were robbed of their lunch money. A simple, yet effective version of supply and demand if Jaune ever saw one. Judging from Ren's greedy smile, he didn't plan to stop anytime soon.

Ren threw his hands up with a loud voice. "Place your bets, place your bets! Will this student find the pebble or will he falter? Two-to-one, people! What do you got to lose?"

It was like watching moths to a fire. People simply threw money onto the table and Ren snatched it up without remorse. Gambling was a powerful force in the universe. In another lifetime, Jaune would've believed Ren's Semblance to be Bad Luck, but he doubted that. Anyway, the Lie soon placed the pebble underneath the shells and began moving them at a slow pace. Seemed fair.

Then he cranked up the juice and everything turned into a blur. One moment Jaune knew where the pebble was, and the next he was happy not to be the schmuck about to lose his hard-earned lien. Even he knew the student picked the wrong shell, Ren's Greed filled smile sold him out.

"Aw! Too bad, you lose." Ren shooed the _poor_ kid away. "Anybody else wants to gamble against Lady Luck? I'm taking all bets."

People were dumb. They just witnessed that poor guy get swindled out of his lien, yet they're still throwing money down in the effort to win. Whelp! Jaune clutched his Semblance and aimed it at the currently working Ren. It was time for him to set order to the world. If that meant stopping Ren's hot streak, then so be it, he'd thank him for returning him back to normal later.

What the poor saps didn't know—Fearless Leader included—was that Ren was using his long-sleeves to hide the pebble at the last possible minute, thus creating an impossible gamble. His thirst for Greed never seemed so strong. Then, like a bad roll of fish, it suddenly went all downhill. His Greed died and he lost focus, dropping the pebble out of his sleeve when he went to lift up the shell of a potential sucker.

The tiny stone bounced on the ground, deafening everyone else around it. It _clicked_ and _clacked_ , tightening that invisible around Ren's neck. His executioner turned out to be the person he tried to rob, realization slapping him hard across the face.

The student picked up the stone and pointed accusingly at Ren. "Hey! He's a cheater! He's been cheating this entire time!"

"A cheater! Get him!"

"Boo! You're a great, big phony!"

The mob of people began encircling his fellow male with shouts and pitchforks. Ren was still dulling from the effects of his stripped Greed, so his excuses were sad and ineffective in the plight of teenage intelligence. To make matters much worse, he lifted up his arms in surrender, unknowingly dropping the hidden aces in his sleeve and loaded dice for all to see. Those pocket sleeves sold him out in an instant.

The mob only grew in anger.

Realistically, Jaune could try to fend them off and pull Ren out of the hailstorm that was teenage mercy. He could fight the impossible odds. Explain the mishap with clear, concise reason, and possibly earn some grudges of acceptance along the way. All of that and more could feasibly happen.

"Vengeance shall be swift!"

Eh, he'd be fine.

Time to hunt down Yang!

Running off, Jaune still had trouble following Yang's path of destruction. But when one door closed, another one opened. This one included finding his partner remodeling the Beacon Fountain Statue with a _hum_ that sounded oddly degrading. Pyrrha didn't appear to mind the water or the small crowd of onlookers. She swished in it to chisel away at the statue, mallet in hand with a smirk present.

Jaune stopped at the edge of the fountain, box in hand. "Pyrrha? What on Remnant are you doing?"

She _humphed_ and finished her masterpiece with a final _clack_ of the hammer. Like an array of dominoes, cracks spread across the statue and abruptly fractured and broke apart to reveal the culture hidden within. A new statue with her body riding a Leo into battle was presented for all Beacon's student body to cower and awe. She had a manic grin with flowing fair and armor—if he could call it that—that lift little to the imagination, taking immense Pride in her own body. It was only now he noticed that Pyrrha's own outfit consisted of a new upgrade.

The metal chest corset she wore was missing the front, exposing a vertical line of skin that barely covered her breasts at the right moment, but allowed her creamy complexion to shine through, bellybutton included. Her already short skirt was even shorter and she replaced her metal leggings with normal stockings. Add in the fact she was wet from working in the fountain and, well, it was probably the first and last time he'd ever see Pyrrha so raunchy.

Such a shame that he had to erase it.

She dipped out of the pool and grabbed Jaune by the shoulder. "Just making sure everyone knows how much I've accomplished in my short run. It's not everyday people are graced with my presence. Well, besides you, but that's your honor alone."

She whimsically slapped him on the cheek before venturing off, chisel and hammer ready to decorate the next bed of marble. Jaune didn't even fight it and sighed, considering the point beyond moot now. A quick flip of the killswitch and Pyrrha's Pride vanished without a trace, leaving nothing but panicked fluster when everyone's eyes traced to her masterpiece with opened scrolls.

In hindsight, no one charged into battle wearing only a bikini, but in her lapse of judgment, she hadn't considered that. Now, everyone was taking pictures in a proactive and lewd state! Her mind reeled and her cheeks burned in embarrassment. Quickly, without thinking about it, she jumped into the fountain to attempt to hide her lecherous body.

Busy with hunting down the remainder of their friends, Jaune left Pyrrha to stew in her pot. Best not disturb her while she handled her newly gained fan club. Besides, she appeared too busy to pay him any mind.

So far he fixed Ruby, Ren, and Pyrrha. Now, he only had to hunt down Yang, bump into Weiss, and fix Nora. Where two of those girls were anyone's guess, but knowing his luck, they're bound to show up any minute now.

Slipping past a corner, he reached for his beverage and enjoyed a quick drink. Who knew hunting down Sinful people could be so tiring? Not to mention it was a Saturday. One of the few days off he looked forward to. Darn him Semblance! Why did it have to be such a nuisance? It just couldn't reveal itself on a Monday. The day that already tanked. Nope.

Had to be a Saturday.

Jaune didn't see Weiss, but he heard her. "Hey! Short-stack! Up here!"

Blinking, he finished his drink and peered up to see Weiss towering over him in what appeared to be twenty-feet high, wooden stilts. She had her arms crossed, smirking down at his small stature. Her body practically shadowed over him and blocked out the sun.

"Uh, Weiss—?"

"Look who's tall now! I must say, the weather's quite pleasant up here. Plenty of sunshine and—!"

Nope! He did not have time to deal with this. A Yang was on the loose. Therefore, with a quick push of the button, he was off, leaving Weiss to move past her Envy.

Truthfully, he admitted defeat. Weiss did prove money could make people taller. Money could accomplish many things. Somehow, he expected her to beat him. What he hadn't expected was her sudden screaming.

When he turned around to see what was wrong, she was trying her hardest to balance on the stilts, spinning her arms in circles when she leaned too forward or back. Wobbly would be the best word to describe her center of gravity. Never mind the constant screaming.

"Someone get me down!"

So? Evidently, Envy overpowered fear because Jaune just learned that Snow Angel was horrified of heights. Her fear made it hard to balance. She hardly remained still on her stilts, waving her arms around like some madwoman in an attempt to balance herself. It was sad and funny at the same time. Didn't they get flung off a cliff? How was she afraid of this?

Before something terrible happened, he should probably help her down— _crash_!

Nope! That was certainly Yang!

Like he remembered, they got flung off a cliff. Weiss shouldn't have any problem freeing herself from twenty-feet high stilts. Even if her center of mass was out-of-whack and her mind was all over the place, most likely trying to figure out why she did what she did. Jaune just had bigger fish to fry. It wasn't personal, honest.

Running like the wind, he raced toward the crash and the series of others following it. A few unconscious students entered his line of sight, beaten down by a fighter with peerless merit. Some were buried in the pavement and others were stuck in various spots around Beacon, like the wall for one, but at least Yang quit being subtle about her need to destroy and conquer.

When he finally found her, in the middle of the auditorium, she was holding up Russel and Fox by the necks, grinning in absolute victory. Red outlined her eyes and she was laughing at the weakness that was anyone, but Yang Xiao Long. Then her eyes met his and her grin turned into a delicious smirk that was all feral.

She dropped her challengers and dashed toward her new prey, teeth bared with fists cocked. However, Jaune's fear was quicker than her bite and he managed to remove Yang from her Sinful Wrath at the nick of time, only ending up as a mass of legs, instead of a bloody puddle.

 _Crash_!

Delirious, the blonds groaned with the merciless red gone from Yang's eyes. She stood up first when realization slapped her hard across the face. Her head swished and turned from the memories of beating everyone down to a glob of goo. When word got around, and it would, she was going to be in big trouble.

Gazing down, she plucked Jaune by his hoodie and pulled him up, hoping to slap some sense into him, because, clearly, she had lost hers half an hour back. Maybe he could explain what the hell just happened and why she decided to beat everyone down. Too bad he was still dazed from the crash, appearing totally out of it with stars in his eyes.

"Hey! Hey!" Yang yelled, shaking him and worsening his state. "Wake up already! Damn it! I said get on your feet—!"

"Yang Xiao Long!"

"Meep!"

Yang dropped Jaune's weakened body, going from predator to prey in a heartbeat. The true blond of Beacon Academy was walking toward her, riding crop fully prepared to strike. Her green eyes reflected pools of an intense promise of punishment. Her heels resonated louder than any bomb. And her normally, perfect, well-kept bun was dealing with a few stray strands.

Glynda Goodwitch was Wrath incarnated.

A wave of her riding crop unleashed a torrent of power. It seized and captured the fiery girl, wrapping her in a gravity prison she had zero chance of escaping. Her bubble levitated her and rushed toward a peeved Glynda with a visible tick mark on her forehead. Things only turned worse when the professor noticed the down Arc, figuring her perpetrator had just finished off another student.

Finding her troublemaker upside down, Glynda frowned at Yang's harmless smile, entirely furious. Her foot tapped vigorously on the broken floor, Aura half responsible.

She leaned close to the girl and dropped her voice down to a mere whisper. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? Have you even considered the consequences of your actions? No? Then how about I show you? Two months detention, including Saturdays and Sundays, on top of cleanup duty and that's just the start!"

Yang uselessly struggled in her professor's hold. "No! It wasn't me! I was framed! Something was making me do it! Just ask, Rubes! She'll cover for me!"

"Miss Rose is currently getting her stomach pumped. The only _covering_ she'll be doing is _recovering_. Now, let's talk about extra-homework that won't count toward your grade unless you don't turn it in. Not to mention we have to call your father, I bet he'll be very happy to hear about this."

Extra homework? Saturday and Sunday detention? Her father? All rolled into one? Yang effortlessly slumped in her Semblance's hold, foam at the mouth. How was she going to explain this one to dad if she didn't know what came over her? When did things go wrong? Why her?

Why her!

Waking up from his daze, Jaune sat up, groaning from the impact. Glynda and Yang were both long gone when he recovered. He used his magical box to not only lift his body up but rest upon it as well, still sore from the crash. A quick peek around revealed a missing dragoness.

"Huh? Where did Yang run off to?" He listened for any sound of helpless destruction and found none. "I guess I managed to turn her back to normal. That's good. That just leaves Nora last. And I have a feeling I know just where she's hiding."

Using the box to hold his body up, he walked past the bodies of downed students, hoping to finally set things straight. A slow walk to his dorm room was all the time he needed to think. Never again. His Semblance was too dangerous to use without caution. Just look at the others! If this power even fell into the wrong hands, the consequences could be deadly or worse.

Not one of his friends prospered from having any one Sin of theirs enhanced. Not Ren or Weiss or any of them. His Semblance was too troublesome to mess with undeterred. Set limits had to be established for when he used and not used it. No one needed an unstoppable fighting machine or walking vacuum cleaner on their team.

Groaning, he reached his team's dorm. Finding Nora was the easiest, she was still snoozing like a log in their room. A quick press of a button and she was back to normal, or almost normal. The girl was still sleeping like a rock, probably stuck in dreamland for the rest of the day. Oh well. With that, he checked Nora off the list and ventured out to the halls.

Funny, now that order was reestablished, Jaune felt cheated for never using Lust. He wasn't clueless. He understood what Lust would've entailed, but he still felt burned. Being a Fearless Leader was a tough job, but he needed to set an example above all else, and if that meant sacrificing his curiosity, then so be it.

Leaning on the nearby wall, he rested his forearm on the block, spinning the dial of Lust up and down for fun. No one was in the hallway, so he had little to worry about. Up-and-down, up-and-down, like a game, he messed up with the dial, wondering what Oobleck's test next week was going to be on.

 _Stuck_!

Startlingly, the Lust dial remained stuck on number ten. He thought nothing more than a fluke, probably sticky from his soda, but for the life of him, the Arc could not turn it back down to zero. Of course, that made little sense. He was alone in the hallway. There was no one to inflict a Sin of Lust upon, so what was possibly wrong with his Semblance? A malfunction, perhaps?

Did Semblances have malfunctions?

Gripping the dial, he removed himself from the wall, not seeing Team RWBY's door creep open. If he had checked the screen with the person's head on it, Jaune would've noticed a familiar face. Well, it hardly mattered now. Without indicating his future, he was attacked from the shadows of Team's RWBY dorm. A black ribbon unexpectedly wrapped around his body, completely entrapping him in threads of perfected steel in seconds, and his body dropped face down onto the clad carpet.

Jaune groaned, unable to move his arms. "What just happened?"

He received a tug for his question, pulling him toward Team RWBY's door. When he gained his wits back, his eyes widened upon looking over his shoulder. Out of the darkness of Team RWBY's room, amber eyes glared dangerously with a hunger that craved only one object.

Endless Lust.

Now that the mystery of the unloving dial was solved, he struggled in her hold. He managed to free one of his arms from the bindings, clawing desperately onto the clad carpet floor, but Blake Belladonna proved to be the stronger Huntsmen. His resistance was noted but scoffed at. It was futile. She was the predator and he the prey. Silly Jaune, why not just surrender so she could claim her prize?

Why fight the impossible battle?

"We're going to start off first with chapter ten of Ninjas of Love, before moving on to chapter twelve and then thirteen."

Jaune didn't like the sound of any of that. And what happened to chapter _eleven_? He fueled his biceps with Aura, fighting back, but it proved naught. No one was around to help him, either _beaten_ down by Yang or _beating_ down Ren. Ruby certainly wasn't around. Weiss was probably still stuck twenty feet in the air. Who knew what Pyrrha was up to with all her new fame? And Nora was off in dreamland.

That just left him to combat a Lust-induced Blake.

"I hope you like whips..."

Nope! He reached out desperately, clawing for his life with his one free arm. Forget Ninjas of Love, if he could just reach his Semblance, he could hit the emergency Hail Mary button and save himself from a Lust induced Blake, but with the way she pulled him by his legs, it was all up to his Semblance to save the day and close the distance.

The magical box wisely decided to float _just_ out of reach.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Tone is a color device, like shade or tint. I have the whole Color library at my disposal.


End file.
